


Seren’dipitous (Luck In Making Unexected Discoveries)

by artemismoon12



Category: CPCoulter's Dalton, Dalton Academy Series, Supernatural
Genre: Carver Edlund's Supernatural Novels, Enochian, Gen, Platonic Relationships, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-25 11:11:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3808225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemismoon12/pseuds/artemismoon12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A group of teenagers dedicated to Carver Edlund’s book series make the unlikely discovery that in their pursuit of the paranormal, everything they thought was true, was true, and everything they thought was fiction, was also true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seren’dipitous (Luck In Making Unexected Discoveries)

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm finally transferring my works from my writing blog, but only the really fun ones I enjoyed writing or need the AO3 format. This one was a personal challenge to write a long SPN/Dalton crossover. It's not the first, but I'd like to think it is the most cohesive rendition.

Dwight Houston was the weird kid around Dalton Academy, which for that school was saying something. 

You could catch him lining your doorway with salt and thrusting garlic at complete strangers.  He’d mutter “christo” and look relieved when people just told him to go away.  Every time there was a lightning storm he’d yell something about demons, and then spend the rest of the night pouring over banned tomes he probably bought illegally.  He was a conspiracy theory nut and spent half his internet bandwidth surfing forums full of women in their late twenties for new clues as to how the world would end that week.  One week he’d actually been convinced Dick Roman, a business partner of one of the Stuart’s father, was secretly an evil leviathan- which people guessed was code for ‘lizard person”.

The whole reason was convinced the worldwide tornado warnings were really apocalyptic signs of broken seals were because of a series of books he would quote at anyone who would listen.  The series,  _Supernatural_  was his bible, sitting next to a King James and a “Wicca for Dummies” on the expansive bookshelf in his bedroom.  He met the author once at a convention when he was very young and was convinced the man had a higher purpose, informing the public on the horrors which littered the earth.  The books, by Carver Edlund were his favourite topic; he even headed the local Supernatural events down in Columbus every two weeks.

On top of his local  _Supernatural_ group, Dwight had his own little string of contacts across the Eastern Coast, ranging all the way to his hometown of Serendipity Hill, Florida, where he and his “hunters” would solve local hauntings.  Sadly to their chagrin Serendipity Hill had been free of moral peril and since the 70s- no Indian burial grounds, sacred tombs, cursed mummies, or restless spirits.  However disappointing that was, Dwight still had a group of people who were just as passionate about the series and the quest to rid the world of paranormal nuisances as he was.

Whenever Dwight would announce his intentions to travel cross country, “saving people, hunting things” instead of going to one of the many ivy league schools Dalton could offer him, his housemates would laugh.  It was a bit of a running joke that Dwight didn’t have all his nuts and bolts screwed in tightly. 

Though little did they know, Carver’s books were a reality to many a people across the country.  A woman named Becky, a woman who used to be called Mrs. Novak, and a zany fellow named Garth- who knew just about every serious emulator of the series, except the fact that series was their life.

It was Garth who introduced the real world of  _Supernatural_  to the hunters of Serendipity Hill, and it would be his involvement which brought every single part in and out of the books to full flourished reality.

—-

“Luke, do you have the history notes?” Morgan asked, leaning over in the swivel chair to check with his friend.  He’d have asked Sadie but he’d finally gotten over that annoying habit of forgetting she was at school in Ohio now.  Lucas ruffled through a pile of the typed out notes he’d printed off.  The room was a mess covered in clothes and sport equipment.  Lucas was usually kept his room a little tidier, but he was in a rush.

“Please tell me you’re actually using them for studying and not for research.  That guy on the forums could be right after all, we don’t know every little detail of the Alamo.  We can leave the hunting to the weekend; I just need to get to basketball right now.”  He found the notes and passed them over to Morgan who didn’t even pretend he was using them for school, immediately logging in to argue with more people about supernatural events surrounding American history.  Lucas groaned and went back to searching for his uniform socks.

“You know if you’re going to stay here and use my internet you might as well help watch Paolo and Summer.”

“What about Kelly?”  He asked citing the one Walter sibling who was actually consistently enthusiastic about then group’s pursuits.

Morgan kept typing his reply to the other user, glancing at the history notes.

“Mom’s got her in ballet classes, kind of the antithesis to shooting water guns at her classmates claiming they’re Lilith’s children.”  Lucas said in that world weary tone he’d adopted whenever Kelly came home with another discipline notice from school.  Morgan chuckled.  “I take it she’s still calling Sadie?”

“And Laura too, they’ve taught her how to conference call!” Lucas ducked into the bathroom to change into his track uniform for the run they did before the actual practice.

Morgan couldn’t keep his approval to himself, “I knew she’d be a good addition to the team.”

Lucas didn’t dignify that with an answer.  He stepped out of the bathroom, grabbing his now stocked practice bag.  “Okay, just make Paolo and Summer don’t get into too much trouble; and actually move into the playroom if you’re not going to go home okay?  The nanny’s going to have a much easier time with them if they know you’re here.”

“Okay.” Morgan said, not really fully paying attention.  Lucas rolled his eyes and gave him a light punch on the shoulder.  “I mean it.  I’ll be back in two hours, maybe three.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Morgan turned back around, “Just don’t wipe the floor with your teammates this time.”

“When do I ever?” Lucas smiled, heading out the door.

“Okay, now get out of here before you’re late.” Morgan gathered the notes up in one hand, holding the laptop in the other.

Lucas spun, actually spotting the clock in the corner. “Crap you’re right, remember help the nanny out! Gotta go!”  He sped down the stairs so quickly he almost knocked into the vase perched next to the front door.

Morgan chuckled at his friend, going back to the argument he was having with a stubborn fellow he’d been prolonging for three days now.  Morgan did do as he asked, settling himself in the playroom with Lucas’ little siblings and their nanny (who was in the other room making the kids snacks).  He’d usually have Sadie here to compare arguments and back him up with this guy, but he’d checked and she was offline right now.  It was awkward trying to coordinate over all this distance.

Paolo toddled up to him and tried to see what he was typing out.  “Whassthat?” He asked, too young to really be understood properly.

Morgan turned the screen away from him; normally he’d be telling them what was happening but this time someone had posted some rather nasty words, if Paolo started swearing Lucas would totally blame him for corrupting his little brother.  “Nothing, just some hunter stuff.”

Paolo didn’t pry any further, just yawning because he’d just run around the whole playroom about fifty times before Morgan came in and he was tired.  He clung to Morgan’s leg and started dozing.  Morgan smiled down at the little blond before getting back to his argument.

“ _SHH_M16: There is no way in hell that Private Kettleborn would have ended up in California in such a short time frame.  He was not at the battle, no matter what your stupid diary records say.  Therefore even if he is a trouble spirit, he was troubled by something other than a bullet wound in the battle!”_ Morgan typed angrily, though still with perfect grammar.  No need to subject yourself to the language of the lowest common denominator.  Most of these people were probably just casual fans, not caring about real supernatural occurrences in the country.  Sure it was just a book series about two very strangely involved brothers, but every story contains a kernel of truth, that was something Morgan truly believed in- though fact was always preferred when you were shooting in the dark.

The user he was arguing with was called  _rUddderbot67,_ a strange name for a forum dominated by  _best_impala_gurl_ and  _wincest69._ Then again 67 was probably referring to his IQ and not to any reference to the series.  Morgan rolled his eyes at the response: “ _rUddderbot67_ :  _Youre stupid if you think that kettleborn cudnt make it thrre. he rote it in his diary and I have the rpoof!!!”_ Morgan’s point was proved when the response was linked to a diary, obviously written on 21st century lined paper, made to look like the diary of a solider in the civil war.  The internet was an amazing thing, but sometimes it was full of idiots.

He was about to move his sights to another thread when someone responded to his original question that had sparked the whole debate using the example of Private Kettleborn.  He had originally asked if a spirit, like in Book 7 of Supernatural, had to stay in it’s place of death, or simply any traumatic site of significance.  The response was actually well written, didn’t have a stupid tagline, though the flashy gif was debatable, and actually intrigued him.

“ _Garthed4: A ghost, depending on what triggered its unresolved stance on life and mortality can be transient.  A spirit doesn’t have to stay in one place, though you’re right when you say they usually stay in their place of death.  Get a soul fixated on a particular object and it can haunt anything from the house it was murdered in, or even a brooch their girlfriend wore and said lucky lady broke their heart.  It’s as variable as people themselves. ;P”_

Sounded like a university kid decided to take some time off from studying to have some fun on the forums; Morgan clicked reply: “ _SHH_M16: But how could you prove what was being haunted? Wouldn’t it be like insanely difficult? And still, what if the brooch was across the world from where the guy died, could he still haunt it?”_

_“Garthed4: I’ve seen a ghost from the Netherlands popping up in his exs’ house, I think it’s possible.”_

Morgan’s eyes narrowed; great, another idiot pretending he’d actually seen a ghost.  There were a million on this site but maybe only 10% of those were true. “ _SHH_M16: And where exactly was this?”_ _  
_“Garthed4: Got me a poltergeist in New York State, nasty fella.  I couldn’t get to his bones so we had to talk him down and figure out what was going on.  Managed to question the ex and she opened up like a happy clam! It was easy to figure out what he was haunting and de-possess the bugger; he caused a lightning storm before he left though.  He’s still floating around, but it’s changed locations back to Europe and I’ve got bigger fish to fry; here check it out {link} {link}.”_  _Morgan, still sceptical clicked the links to an article on a city wide power outage in Albany, New York with no visible wire damage at all.  The second article detailed an almost exact occurrence in Amsterdam, mere minutes after the first in Albany.  Now there was some substantial evidence, a near invisible time lapse couldn’t be something to overlook.

 _“SHH_M16: So you’re a hunter?”_ He was impressed with this guy, and he hoped he wouldn’t be ending up on some roleplayer’s account.  It’d be awesome to add another contact to their list besides some Ohio fans and that wiccan from Oregon.

_“Garthed4: Hell yeah, no better feeling than getting rid of the old, in with the human.  There’s a specialized knowledge not everyone is able to grasp.”_

_“SHH_M16: Like what?”_ _  
_“Garthed4: Well like the difference between a banshee’s shriek and a banshee’s wail, wish I didn’t have to figure it out first hand.”__

Morgan’s eyes widened; it was then he knew he had the real deal, just like him and his friends.  In the book series the terms were used interchangeably when the brothers faced one, however it had been Dwight who uncovered the difference in one of the numerous banned books he’d acquired.  Thing about this particular book was there were only fifteen copies in the United States; Dwight had only gotten it because he’d asked his uncle (read: pleaded) to get it for Christmas.  It was unlikely there was anyone else on this forum with that kind of reach, unless the guy was telling the truth…

“ _SHH_M16: A shriek means the listener will die, but a wail is a premonition of the listener’s death at the banshee’s hand right?”_

He could almost hear the man chuckling as he answered: “ _Garthed4: Never would have guessed I’d find a genuine hunter on these forums of all places.”_

Morgan couldn’t keep from throwing his fist in the air, contact had been achieved!  Paolo stirred and he immediately calmed himself, typing back quickly.   _“SHH_M16: Yeah, me neither.”_

—-

From there Garth and he exchanged contact information, speaking extensively about their own knowledge of the supernatural, and of Garth’s personal hunts.  It was like the world had just opened up when Garth went on about the actual execution of a real hunt.  It was an amazing opportunity to learn from someone who had actually found something in the field, not just gotten stuck with ill fitting leads and no ideas how to actually find a real threat.  Even if the guy was lying, a bit of research would soon confirm that.

It was exhilarating to know there was actually something out there they were fighting against, not just some kind of empty threat from the universe.  He’d always know it, and they thought they’d have caught a glimpse of something this far, but it was probably the fact the places they scoured just weren’t hiding anything.

Lucas returned to Morgan typing away on his laptop, Paolo playing with his socks and Summer painting with the Nanny in the kitchen.  He put his bag down and threw himself on the couch next to Morgan, picking up Paolo from the floor and hugging him between Morgan and himself.  “How are my favourite little guys doing?”

Paolo giggled, “I’mnot ettle.”   
“No you’re not; this guy is though.” Lucas told his brother grinning, leaning his head down on Morgan’s shoulder to see what he was doing.     
“You smell like dog vomit.” Morgan remarked.

“And you were supposed to be helping the nanny, or else go home cause you have your own house.” Lucas fake-pouted, Morgan rolled his eyes and shoved him away.

“If you don’t cut it out then I won’t tell you I met a real hunter in the _Supernatural_  forums today.” Morgan said, closing the laptop.

Lucas frowned, “But you just told me.”

Morgan huffed.  “You’d make things a lot easier if you just went along with them.”

“But they I wouldn’t be the adorable voice of sanity we all know and love.” He grinned.

“Do you want to hear about it or not?” Morgan asked, used to Lucas’s odd and often self indulgent sense of humour.

Lucas tucked his head over further, nodding. “Yeah.”

Morgan flipped the computer screen back up and showed him the messages of the now offline hunter; Lucas looked impressed, scanning the information presented with interest.  After a minute or two he made a noise of approval and nudged Morgan. “This guy is the real deal huh?”

“Seems so.  He’s got a ton of knowledge we only got from working as a team to figure it all out.  He says he’d love to keep in touch, maybe work together.” Morgan sounded excited.

Lucas seemed to agree. “So you’re already on the Garth-fan train aren’t you?  Maybe he’ll be able to point us in the direction of some better hunts than what we’ve been getting around here.”

“I know, it’s awesome.” Morgan clicked onto the messenger application again, pulling up the Ohio location.  “What are you doing?” Lucas asked, tickling his baby brother while he glanced at the screen.

“Telling Sadie and the others of course, we can’t do a hunt without them.” Morgan answered, typing furiously.

Lucas recognized that blind passion in Morgan’s eyes when it came to an intense hunt and just left him to it, plucking Summer up in his other arm when she crawled into the room.  He looked over his shoulder at Morgan, “So I’m guessing you’re staying for dinner?”

Morgan’s head snapped up, “That was in question?”

Lucas rolled his eyes and carried his squealing siblings to the kitchen, “Well then, let’s get you two cleaned up while the dork keeps your cousin and the girls up to date.”

Paolo giggled, “Ou said date.”

—-

Sadie and Dwight- and supposedly Laura by extension- were over the moon according to Morgan at the news there was a legitimate hunter on their contact list.  They themselves were hunters, but they’d never actually had a close encounter with the supernatural, no matter how effectively Sadie said her spells worked.  Morgan discussed the conversation in depth after dinner with the Walters, and then the five of them got on a video call after Morgan got home, just to emphasis how close they were to a real hunt.

From there Morgan kept in contact with Garth, chatting with the man at least three times a week and hearing about some of the newest situations the self proclaimed “Bobby” was.  Morgan appreciated the constant references to the  _Supernatural_ series, it kind of made him think they were on the same page- the series inspired a love of hunting in everyone surely? It opened their eyes to a new world of impossibilities.  Garth sometimes mentioned people he was supposed to check in on, like a young man named Kevin who’d recently gone missing from his safe house, or a small group not unlike the SHH led by a vampire hunter named Chrissy.  Though Garth said it was inadvisable for different hunting groups to get involved with one another, they usually got each other caught up in their own issues.  There was a reason most hunters worked alone or in pairs, not everyone had the discipline or people skills in this line of work to keep it together in a team.

Though, Morgan was pleased to know that teams could often be very effective in taking down larger targets despite the suspicious nature of a group of three or more checking into a small town together.  As long as they arrive separately it was a no brainer that multiple people equalled a better solved cases count.  Garth said he was a minority in the world of hunting because he liked to team up with others, and he praised Morgan for being able to be part of a large hunter group.  Apparently five hunters together was a complete anomaly.

“ _Garthed4: We could use bigger groups, even if they split up every once in a while to look for evidence.”_

_“SHH_M16: If you just referenced Scooby Doo we’re officially on the same page.”_

_“Garthed4: XD You’re funny kid.  But really, larger groups are something completely needed in hunting.  Even just to cover and hide, hunters can’t be solitary creatures.  It’s something for life and you need ot be able to share it; that’s why me and my special lady share everything, she knows all about it.”_

_“SHH_M16: Our leader, Dwight, he tries to tell everyone he knows about hunting but they won’t believe him.  They know what he does, but oddly it doesn’t keep anyone any safer.  How can a large group be more effective if secrecy is a double edged sword?”_

_“Garthed4: Well you better tell Dwight that he’s got to be careful how he does things, though I like the approach.  They’re going to have the ideas in the back of their heads even if they don’t believe it, it’s not breaking secrecy if you’ve telling everyone because nobody believes you.  Having even a small group which believe you keeps your moral up, and hunters need that.  Not all of them are as optimistic as us two.”_

Conversations usually went that way, discussing the intricacies of hunting and how it as a whole worked.  Garth described his job as a bit of everything, acting as a kind of case assigner just like Bobby from the books.  Though there was this touch of reality to it, he’d asked once and Garth had told him the guy before him had died doing the job.  Morgan was surprised, but it just showed the kind of commitment that there was in hunting- this wasn’t just an expression of fandom.

They kept their dialogue going for about two months; sometimes there was radio silence on Garth’s end because he said he was doing a massive investigation into a thunderbird sighting, or a poltergeist with anger management issues.  Morgan stuck around, offering his own knowledge from new books he had acquired or even from his own logical conclusions based on what Garth had said.  It had actually been his theory that it would be easier to knock out a vampire’s teeth than to behead it right off the bat; Garth said the plan had worked, and sent him a photo of the bloody fangs he got as souvenirs from a coven well disposed.  That was when Garth suggested he send Morgan in to do some of the hunts he didn’t have the manpower for; Morgan fell over himself to accept.

_—-_

About five minutes after informing Dwight about the hunt the microphone had gone dead and the screen as well.  Morgan got a little confused until Dwight’s roommate Todd got on and explained Dwight had literally jumped out of his chair and gone off to holler in excitement.  Morgan was told to pass along any additional information, and if they needed a cover story he’d be happy to provide one.

It was times like this Morgan wanted to send every blessing down upon Dwight’s roommate for generally not freaking out about what he was associated with.  Morgan sent the list of things Dwight needed to do, and asked Todd if he could help Dwight fake sick for a couple days that’d be great.  Todd complied; Morgan went to message Laura and Sadie, with similar, abet more subdued reactions.

They’d made plans to meet in the hunting grounds, a small town called Martinsville, South Carolina.  Dwight agreed he and the girls would take his car, and Lucas and Morgan would drive up in the Hummer.  Two rather distinct cars for a small town, but it was better than Luke’s corvette rumbling up like some kind of large sporty bird.  From there they’d check into a motel to plan further.  All parties agreed and the trek began.

It was a Thursday, which was mainly the biggest obstacle.  Though with Todd’s excellent covering for Dwight, and Morgan and Lucas’ plans of saying “we were at each other’s houses” they’d clear up loose ends that way.  Laura and Sadie were more difficult, having to find a way to fake sick without any huge allies within their own dormitories.  Although a good bout of ‘accidental’ food poisoning soon got the whole school into a frenzy, allowing the girls to slip out and hit the road with Dwight.

It was a long drive, though the best part about being rich kids was that there were few problems which couldn’t be solved with money.  Though with Laura on their side the northern team did a bit better at bribing managers to let them into a room, despite the fact she still looked twelve.  It wasn’t a difficult trip and they thought they might have encountered more roadblocks, especially at state lines, but apparently most forces were more worried about the falling stars the other night and making wishes on the worldwide meteor shower.  Once that had started Dwight had to take the backseat during driving because he started freaking out about celestial signs, but Sadie was more than capable of keeping a cool head despite the obvious activity going on above them.  They discussed it with Morgan on the phone, but they agreed a certain hunt was better than an uncertain one; they’d deal with the falling stars after this mission.

—-

Martinsville, South Carolina boasted a whopping 17,000 people, all apparently pleasant and accommodating according to the solitary online recommendation for the town’s “Sweet as Sugar” Diner.  The tag line of the welcome sign as the teens drove into town was a notice about a record winning 200 pound pumpkin from the 1988 County Fair.  Since then the most exciting thing that had happened in the sleepy little town was a couple of meth labs and a recent string of graverobbings.  The grave disturbances was what brought it to Garth’s, and by extension the SHH’s attention.

“So Garth said it was a ghoul, what makes him think that?” Dwight asked over speaker phone, the two groups attempting to coordinate their sleeping arrangements in a cohesive manner over the phone.

“Pieces of the bodies were left behind, making the reports seem like they’d been eaten.”  Morgan replied, pointing to direct Lucas at the neon sign for the nicer of two motels in the area.   “Though it looks like we’re dealing with a original ghoul, not a North American mutation.  A traditional ghoul eats victims post-mortem, while the younger versions have mutated over time to include live victims and a mild form of shape shifting.”

“I know the difference between the generations of ghoul mutations Morgan, I have been studying just as hard as you.” Dwight replied, vaguely annoyed from lack of sleep because he had been researching everything about the town on the last fifty mile stretch.

“Wasn’t doubting it.  Making sure our trainee knows everything she can before we go beheading.” Morgan smiled as Lucas parked.

“Hey!” Laura’s voice rose an octave in her objection.  “I’ve solved more mysteries than you sunshine numbskulls.”

“Missing pizza orders are not the same as a flesh eating ghoul.” Morgan said as diplomatically as he could.

Lucas shrugged, “I think it counts.”  He could practically hear Laura grinning in return, “Thank you!”

The two of them saw Dwight’s Impala pull up behind them into the lot, Sadie waving from behind the wheel.  Laura waved as well, shaking a fist jokingly at Morgan as the three of them parked.   “We’ll continue this inside.” Morgan heard Dwight say over the speakerphone before they hung up.

Dwight was the first to exit the car, his eyes flickering around to every possible danger the parking lot could hold in that skittish way of his.  Though he looked nervous it was a far cry from the wide eyed parakeet the boys back at Dwight’s dorm had to deal with every single day.  Here he was a leader; he knew what he was doing and how he’d do it.  There was a purpose to his actions, even as his fingers searched about his neck just to check the silver symbols still hung there.  His eyes were still smudged with sleepless smudges, but he got to work immediately- well, tried to.

“Coz!” Lucas grinned and enveloped his cousin in a huge hug, lifting him off the ground as Laura laughed at the undignified grimace Dwight got.

“I thought I told you not to do that outdoors anymore.” Dwight asked, looking down at his cousin who refused to let him stand on his own.

Lucas pouted, “I missed you.”

“Aw,” Sadie laughed.  “Come on Dwight, you had to know you couldn’t turn him down.”

Dwight rolled his eyes, muttering in monotone until Lucas let him down.  “Make yourself useful, you’re the eldest and the most likely to get us a room without any awkward questions.”  He pressed the wallet with their travel money into Lucas’ hand, “now go do whatever you normal all-American types are supposed to while we get the stuff from the trunks.”

“And to think I was so excited to see you, you just want me for my looks.” He teased, tucking the wallet into the pocket of his varsity style jacket.

“Give me a minute and you won’t have any left.” Dwight snarked back, letting himself smile for a moment.  Lucas saluted in his good natured way before walking off to the office to get a room for the five of them.

Sadie was the first to embrace Morgan after Lucas left, “I missed you nerd.”

“Missed you too geek.” Morgan laughed, hugging her back before giving Dwight one of their firm nods of approval.  Laura rolled her eyes, “And I thought she was joking about the nicknames.”

“What?” Sadie turned to her roommate, “I call you Socks, that’s kind of a step up from nerd.”

Laura shrugged, going round to the back of the Impala to grab her runksack.  “I’d have sprung for something cooler.”

“Like Batgirl?” Dwight asked.

Laura rolled her eyes. “That’s you.”

Dwight was about to protest before Lucas came back grinning with a room key.  “Got us the biggest one, so whoever’s on watch can get a chair instead of the floor.”

Laura frowned, “So we’re all sharing, even though there’s five of us?”

“Well do you want to demon proof two rooms for the sake of more leg room?” Sadie asked, getting her own duffle out from the trunk, slinging it over her shoulder effortlessly despite the weight it contained.   Laura frowned, Sadie smiled, “Thought not.”

The five of them got the rest of their things, making sure it was in their possession and not subject to any opportunistic thieves in the area who realized exactly how rich the drivers were.  They couldn’t risk their weaponry going missing just because their cars were incredible.

The room was on the ground level of the motel, easily accessible from the lot but also it meant they didn’t have to leap out a second story window if they needed to escape.  The room itself wasn’t huge, but there was a miniscule kitchen, two queen sized beds and a table with a couple chairs.  The wallpaper was fairly well maintained and there was only a faint lingering odour of nicotine.  Overall it was quite sizable for their purposes, given they weren’t planning to stay for very long.

“I’ll line the room, Sadie you work on the spell work, rest of you get to work setting up the traps.”  Dwight ordered as soon as they put their things on the beds.  They nodded, getting the supplies out of their bags quickly as they set to work.

Dwight had his canister of salt, going around carefully with an even layer near the baseboard, making sure the windows got the same treatment.  It was more difficult near the door, but he made a loop around, so the door could be opened by spirits but the room itself could not be entered.  Morgan, Lucas, and Laura were on their hands and knees under various points in the room with chalk making devils traps on the carpets.  They’d spring for paint, but it’d be to easily seen, chalk blended in with the carpet effectively creating an invisible trap.  Laura struggled a bit with the symbols, but Morgan deemed it passable earning him a good natured punch on the arm from her.

It was Sadie who had the hardest job, spelling the room with wards to make them undetectable and un-enterable by the supernatural by anything but humans.  Her forte was more in offensive magic, but it was undeniable if any of them had a talent for witchcraft it was Sadie.  They had never seen a flash of sparks, but she’d moved things and made things happen they couldn’t explain any other way than that her spells worked.  The trick to the wards however was they needed to be unseen, and if they couldn’t be seen, they couldn’t be sure she’d even cast them properly in the first place.  Still, once the others were done their jobs she brushed her hands of the dried herbs, and somewhat rusty copper pennies she’d been using and declared the wards set, however shaky they may be.  If anything they’d never encountered a demon in their homes, so perhaps there was something to it.

“You think we’re going to be able to find the ghoul?” Laura asked, lying back on the bed after all the work had been done.  Sadie nudged her elbow, sitting next to her. “Positive.”

“Well she has a point, all our leads so far have turned up duds.  Our incredibly bad luck might just cause the thing to kill itself before we get there.”  Lucas shrugged from the chair across the room, laptop open on the table as Morgan and Dwight were already pouring over it for the local graveyards.

Dwight’s head snapped up at his cousin’s insinuations; his voice clear, Dwight said, “This creature is going to run screaming for mercy from us, and one day it will be us that little ghouls fear are under their beds.  This is real, I feel it.”

The group launched into whispered plans after that, an edge of excitement and fear touching everything they did.  If their luck had changed this would be the defining moment, away from Westerville or Serendipity Hill, on the word of someone else and not their own unsure mapping.  It was fight or flight now.

Their suspicions of a proper hunt were correct though; because at the same time the buffed and well maintained cars drove into town, a battered and wartorn ’67 Impala was already parked in the dirtier, stinkier, and much sleazier motel across the tiny town.  It had been a hunch, a ‘passing through’ idea to stop and investigate the grave robbings just to take their minds off of the fallen angels which Dwight had correctly identified on their drive to South Carolina.  This darker Impala had darker passengers as well: A Brit, according to accents anyhow, though this version was far older than Laura could dream of being, though just as human.  The second was not a driven researcher, nor a determined spellbinder- but merely a broken shell of a solider; they were led not by cousins, but by brothers- intrinsically linked to everything the SHH had ever been inspired by the moment the group picked up the first Edlund book.  It was the Winchesters, and they were after the same prize.

—-

“I’m sorry.” Crowley said through tears, the shattered mug of tea on the floor impossible to pick out of the carpet.  Dean threw his head back frustrated, infuriated that the chains around the king of hell’s wrists were so well done they kept him from doing the most mundane of tasks.

“Shut up Crowley, before I really make you sorry.” Dean snapped, holding the butt of his gun to the man’s neck.  Crowley whimpered, sitting back down in his chair.

If anyone asked, Sam had done his job a little too well upon healing the King of Hell of his demonhood, though the ritual had gone wrong and somehow when the angels fell it distracted the cosmos in a way that Hell remained open but their king remained human.  He just needed something to take the edge off of all this shit, his brother nearly dying, Cas loosing his powers, and now having to babysit this whiny bitch of a demon (well human) until he got back to the Batcave and demanded some answers from Kevin.  All the celestial interference meant no messages could get in or out of the hideout, which was frankly useless in the current situation.

Dean didn’t have to be a master of observation to see everyone in this damn room felt useless; Sam being unable to close the gates of hell, Crowley feeling emotions for the first time in centuries, and Cas- damn Cas- not being able to do anything but make bad cups of tea for Crowley in an attempt to do something.  Dean felt like he was the only one trying to do anything, which is why he had to distract them in some way, build them back up even just for a moment- which is why when he heard about a possible ghoul he jumped on the case.

“Okay Cas, you think you can handle Mister Whips and Chains without us?”  Dean asked, Ruby’s knife tucked into his belt and shotgun in his jacket.  He dug around for a modified version of the demon killing bullets and threw them over with a pistol to Cas. “He tries to run, gank him.”

Castiel looked up, more tired than Dean had ever seen him before.  There was a flash of guilt in his eyes, and he nodded solemnly as he spoke, almost like he was apologizing, “I will do whatever you need me to do Dean.”

“Hey, don’t be like that.” Dean scolded, “We’ve got the demons on the run and we’ll be fixing things in no time.  Just… keep your head together man.”

“I don’t think we should be doing this Dean, a ghoul compared to all the angels falling at once?  We should be focusing our priorities-” Sam tried to reason, but Dean cut him off.

“Sammy, we both need this.  Something normal, I’m not letting you get in the line of fire with some crazed bird brains before you’re better.” Dean insisted, clapping his brother on the shoulder before kneeling down the check the chains on Crowley’s ankles.

Sam laughed, “Normal, right.  Dean I am better, I’ve felt better than I have in days but we need to get back as soon as possible.”

“Well if you’re better it shouldn’t take us long to gank a ghoul and get back to Kevin before the day is out.” Dean said, deeming Crowley’s chains fit.  He spared an extra look at Castiel, worried over the dark smudges under the angel’s eyes.  Although he should probably be calling him a man, now that he was completely kaput.  He took a deep breath, “Uh, we’ll bring back some take out after this okay?”

Sam seemed to agree, reluctantly, but he saw what his brother was getting at.  He knew Dean was worried about him and a test run was all he needed to confirm it; at least now he could shoot a gun without getting light headed afterwards.  Pulling out the map from his pocket he pointed at the graveyard behind their motel.  “We’re only a block from it; we can sneak in and back before Crowley even falls asleep.”

“Don’t leave me, I’ll be so lonely.” Crowley whimpered.  His new attitude was even more irritating than when he was using those lines sarcastically.  Dean ignored him and locked the door behind him and Sam, forgoing the Impala both on Sam’s word, and because he wanted to see if Sam could even walk that far without collapsing.

Sam seemed to be fine, but he wasn’t going to take any chances when his brother had been that close to death.  This was a routine beheading, lop a little off the top when the thing went to nab another tasty corpse and they’d be outta there.  Sam wouldn’t even have to do anything if he would have anything to say about it, but he felt more and more at ease with every step his brother took with not a sign of faltering.

“Do you believe Crowley’s really cured?” Dean asked his brother as they walked, trying to be inconspicuous and not run into the locals.  It was unlikely anyone would be out at one o’clock in the morning, but it was always a possibility.

Sam considered it for a moment.  “I think he’d kill himself before acting like this, even if he does have ulterior motives.  And it would explain how everything kind of stopped for me, no more pain, no more transformations.  The trials were completed, but they didn’t work, so I don’t have to sacrifice myself.”

“So you think he’s human now?” Dean asked.

“We can still test it by trying a devil’s trap on him.” Sam suggested as they got closer to the graveyard.

Dean nodded.  “Better do that before we get back home.”

Sam paused. “Home?”

Dean smiled. “Never really had one, feels nice to have something a little more permanent now, especially with all the crap that’s flying around nowadays.”

Sam nodded, not meeting his brother’s eyes.  “I guess it does.”

They were quieter as they lay in wait for the ghoul, ducking behind a couple tombstones with their weaponry and kept their eyes peeled for the ghoul.  The graveyard was a small feild backing onto the forest.  Each row of tombstones was older than the last as they got farther and farther into the field.  Some markers were towering angels, while others were simply stones laid into the ground with a name and date.  There was a bend from the main road, with tire treads leading into the forest, but it looked like a well used road so the brothers simply dismissed it as they looked for a good spot to wait.  They suspected they might have to stay for a little longer than a few minutes, though it seemed luck would be on their side as Sam nudged his brother at a flutter of movement across the graveyard.

“Dean.” He whispered.  A flash of pale skin disappeared behind one of the few crypts in the town’s sole graveyard.  Dean’s grip tightened on the knife in his belt as the two of them crossed the yellow grass, hurrying to unsheathe their blades.  They rounded the crypt, prepared to decapitate the ghoul but they found nothing.

“What the hell?” Dean asked.

Sam didn’t answer.  Dean turned to find himself staring down two teenage boys, a dark haired one with a crossbow and a blond nearly as tall as Sam with a long machete, each with the sharp ends dangerously close to the Winchester’s necks.

“Who the hell are you?” The dark haired one asked.

Dean noticed the tangle of crosses, pentagrams, and pendants around the boy’s neck; he immediately guessed what was happening and groaned.  “Really? We’re dealing with this again?  Who the hell is shitting on my day now?”

“He asked who you are.” A girl with a British accent voice asked from behind them.  She looked ridiculous in an all black getup similar to her friends considering the rainbow hat and socks she was also wearing.  With her, stepping out from the other side of the crypt was a boy with glasses and a long knife, and a girl who was surprisingly unarmed save for a baseball bat.

Dean groaned. “Why don’t you kids just run on home to your moms and forget this whole mess even happened.  You don’t want to be here.”

“I don’t think you’re in a position to be making demands.” The boy with glasses said, lifting his own blade as if to prove a point.

Sam nudged his brother and raised his hands, looking around at the teens.  “I think we should all just put our weapons down and talk calmly about this.  We don’t want anyone here getting hurt.”

“No one else is supposed to be here; this is our hunt, now get out.” The British girl demanded.

“Laura.” The dark haired boy warned.  Nevertheless he put his weapons down and urged his team to do the same.  “My name is Dwight Houston, leader of the Serendipity Hill Hunters, now who the hell are you and what are you doing at our hunt?”

Laura hid her giggles at his attempts at gaining a reputation but the rest of the team held their tongues, trying to read the men in front of them.  Dean just looked annoyed. “Really? Houston or whatever your name is-”

Sam cut him off, “Uh good to meet you.  My name is Sam and this is my brother Dean.  Obviously there has been some kind of misunderstanding here.”

“Wait Sam and Dean? Like Winchester?” Lucas asked.  “You expect us to believe that?”

“You kids have heard of us?” Sam asked surprised.

“God, we’re dealing with amateur cosplayers.” Dwight snorted, “And I thought it was bad at  _Supernatural_ conventions.  Can’t you even get the hair right?”

Sam touched his hair self-consciously, “What?”   
It clicked for Dean, “Fucking Chuck.”

Sam and Dean looked at each other, as Dwight continued digressively, “You’re getting in the way of real hunting here.  Now get out before you do something incredibly stupid.”

Incredibly stupid was the team underestimating the men in front of them, taking a story for simply a story and not the truth it was.  Before Dwight could finish his sentence his crossbow had been ripped from his hands, and Lucas knocked to the ground.  Sam caught Morgan and Laura, taking care of both their weapons and tossing them to the ground.  Sadie got a jab to the right place and went down as well.

“Hey!” Dean cried out sharply, Dwight putting up at least a minor fight against the experienced hunters once pulled off guard.  He’d managed to avoid Dean’s mild jab to his neck and flipped backwards, pulling a wavy bladed knife from his black trenchcoat.  It met against Dean’s with a clash, the two struggling for a moment before Sam pulled Dwight up and out of the conflict.  Dwight struggled for a moment, getting himself out of the brother’s grasp, panting as he landed on his feet, still gripping the kris in his hand tightly.

“You can’t handle real hunting, this isn’t some game you can just step in and out of whenever you want.  Once you’re in, you’re in and there is no going back.” Dean said seriously, catching Dwight by the shoulder as he spoke with a direct stare the young man couldn’t ignore.

His eyes went wide.  “Holy… you’re real, like the real… oh my god.”

The brother’s felt themselves get irritated, it was bad enough with Becky but now a bunch of teenagers were going to start fangirling over them.  Wait- was that even a word.  Dean didn’t know and didn’t care to find out.  However good at holding his own this kid was he was still a kid and shouldn’t be going after ghouls, even with a team.

Morgan and the others looked shocked from their positions on the ground, getting up shakily as the Winchesters didn’t cause them any actual damage.  It was like they were second guessing what was going on; they’d believed in the messages the book taught but not necessarily in the characters themselves.

“So Garth was telling the truth… he really has met you guys.  I though he was exaggerating.” Morgan muttered.

“Garth? It was Garth who got you kids on the party train to hunterville?” Dean asked.  His brow furrowed.  “Next time I see that guy I swear I’m going to tear him a new one.”

Dwight interrupted Dean’s plots to eviscerate Garth.  “If you’re really Sam and Dean then you know exactly how important it is we continue hunting.  This is what we do, just like it is for you.  You can’t stop us just because we’re too young, we’re old enough to understand the consequences.”

“No you don’t.” Dean said.  No one understood the consequences of hunting until it was too late and they were lying on their backs with everything they ever loved flayed open before their eyes.  “You’re just a kid, go home and read a book or something; stay in school, play a sport, go to college and live your life.  You weren’t born into this crap and you sure as hell don’t know what it’s like.  You have a choice, now take it kid.”

“My name is Dwight.” He gripped the blade in his hand tighter.  “I’ve read the Edlund books, I know what you’ve done for your brother and for the world.  You’ve saved so many people and I know you’ve done things most people think are just myth.  Well I’m not just going to stand around and wait for something bad to happen, too many people have died already for me to pretend nothing is wrong and it’s all about ‘going to college’.”

“Kid, you can’t-”

“You can’t say that.  You don’t know where any of us have been or what we’ve done.  I’ve walked through fire to get where I am and I’d do it again for the people I care about, so don’t you say what I can or can’t do.” Dwight’s voice took on a dangerous tone.  Dean noted it wasn’t vengeful or bitter like Chrissy Chambers’ had been when he’d tried to talk her out of hunting.  This kid had scars, he’d seen things.  That note about fire wasn’t just crap to prove himself… there was something about this kid.

Dwight raised his kris, taking another breath in.  “Don’t try and stop us.”

Sadie broke in, “Whatever you say, we’re already in.  We’ve warded our homes and we know the signs to look for.  You need more hunters who choose this, otherwise they’re all going to end up bitter and hating themselves.”

Sam said nothing; Dean gulped at the girl’s words.  “But your parents-”

“They’re alive and they know we’re hunters; they’re safer with us than without us. So don’t even try it.” Sadie shot back.

“And how would a kid like you know how to properly ward a house against the sup-”

Sadie didn’t even let him finish, throwing her hand out, “ _Icō ibi_.”  The Winchesters felt themselves thrown backwards towards the fence of the graveyard, the wind knocked out of them.  They didn’t see the small jump of excitement Sadie did, or the look of surprise she got from her teammates at the successfully completed spell.

Dean was the first to his feet, his hands back on Ruby’s knife.  “What the hell was that?”

Sam struggled to get up, Dean’s attention back to his brother in an instant.  “I’m fine Dean,” he said quickly, standing up and looking at Sadie with concern.  “Was that a spell?”

“Yes.  And there’s more where that came from so don’t worry yourselves about us.  We can handle this.” Sadie declared, holding her hands out in warning.

“Kid, witchcraft and hunting don’t mix! Next thing you know you’ll be selling your souls to the crossroads demons for an extra kick.  Hunters are not witches.” Dean was livid, these kids were so mixed up they couldn’t tell right from wrong.  What the hell was Garth thinking leading them to believe the books were anything but a fun story?

Dwight stood next to his friend, looking glaringly at the brothers.  “Good people use all the tools at their disposal, kind of like you’ve broken every single rule you’ve ever been set to save your brother?”

The Winchesters came forward quickly, about to argue some more with the teens when an inhuman howl pierced the night.  A sharp gasp was heard from the girls; Dwight just bit back his own before the Winchesters tried to go after it.  Lucas and Morgan however didn’t let them, this time catching the brother’s off guard with twin blows to the head, letting them fall harmlessly to the ground.  They would just get in the way.

“Quick, Laura, Morgan, Luke take the right, Sadie come with me on the left.  Hit it with a spell! Hold your blades until we get it down!” Dwight barked the orders quickly, the words coming as naturally to him as breathing.  The others didn’t question it, the others ducking behind tombstones with their blades at the ready.  Dwight only had enough time to grab his crossbow, still loaded with the bolt in the clip before the ghoul leaped out of the darkness into the moonlight.    
There was no time to think about the confirmed existence of the paranormal, or even get scared from the disgusting creature standing before them.  No morals could come into play and no qualms about what they were doing; it was all in the moment of the kill.

The ghoul appeared human on some level, though it was more grotesque than they would have imagined.  Its large jaw was sloping, hanging open as its long arms dug into the nearest grave searching for its next meal.  It let out another howl, shaking the stones around them with the unearthly noise.  The ghoul’s skin was tinged with blue, its joints pronounced with each dig into the sandy soil.  Its thin lips dribbled with saliva, anticipation hanging off its thin frame.

Dwight signalled the others to get ready, his stomach threatening to leap into his throat but he hid it well.  Sadie and him nodded in unison, her hands out and his crossbow raised at they flew out from behind the tombstones with their own cries, causing the creature to lift its heavy head from the search for long dead flesh.  The ghoul’s eyes narrowed, fixing in on the pair of hunters.  It shrieked and started loaping towards them, stringy hair falling from his scalp as it did.

Dwight let his bolt fly, Sadie’s voice ringing out in the night as it flew.  “Icō auigneus!”

The ghoul was caught in the chest with the bolt, throwing it backwards a few yards.  The crossbow bolt started to smoke, but not burst into flames as Sadie had hoped.  She cursed under her breath and Dwight wasted no time yelling for the other three to move.

It had always been just practice, but they had not made it this far to fail now.  With the ghoul staggering from the heat growing in its chest they took their chance.  Morgan leap at its legs, throwing it on it’s back with the lack of balance.  Laura and Lucas sprang together, her blade pinning it to the ground through it’s gut and Lucas’ scraping along the jaw to leave the head hanging by a tag of skin.  As the jaw still thrashed Dwight ran forward and kicked it free, the skin tearing and the head rolling to halt in front of a statue of a crying angel.

There was a second before the five of them erupted into cheers, Lucas picking up Laura and spinning her around in his arms.  Sadie threw herself at Dwight, kissing his cheek gleefully before doing the same to Morgan who looked slightly queasy.

They wiped their blades, and collected the bolt from the creature’s chest.  Laura actually pulled her cellphone out to take a picture of both head and body, exclaiming they needed a memento of their first takedown.  Sadie laughed before they went to work placing the body in the grave it had tried to dig up.  This time Sadie’s spell worked and the body burst into flames, smouldering in seconds leaving them with enough dirt to fill the hole.  Apparently when you were just skin and bones it didn’t take long to burn the evidence.

As the last of the flames died down that was when the teens saw the Winchesters stirring behind the crypt and decided to go prove a point.

The brothers saw the smoke and the streaks on the blades the kids held.  Sam looked at his brother, trying to find his balance while Dean just scowled.  “One good hunt doesn’t make you hunters.  Go home.”

“You’re just jealous we don’t have man pain to deal with while we kick ass as an awesome team.” Laura said, her words meant to hurt.

They didn’t really, a teenage girl he had no connection to couldn’t insult Dean with things he already knew about himself.  He just stood tall and shook his head at the teens, “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I think that ghoul would beg to differ.” Morgan said, feeling nauseous but proud of the dead creature behind them.

Dean didn’t get to answer that as Sam just shook his head at his brother.  “They have Garth checking in on them and their parents know…”

Laura shrugged, “And if all that fails we’ll go to college like good little children like you so insist we do.  Honestly Winchester we’re not idiots.”

Lucas smirked, “You’ve always wanted to say that right?”

“Do you think if they’re real we could flag the TARDIS down as well?” She asked with a wild grin to her friend.

Dean looked lost but Sam shrugged, “You could try.”

“Yes.” Laura punched the air excited.

The celebration was short lived as Morgan, at the back of their group, felt the press of hand to the back of his neck.  A gravelly voice was the kick to their reality, “Get away from my friends and the child goes free.”  Dean looked like he was about ready to hug the newcomer.

_“Cas.”_

—-

None of the SHH knew what exactly was going on, all they could tell was a tired man in a dirty trench coat had a real, like probably unregistered and loaded, gun to Morgan’s neck.  They thought they were out of the clear; they weren’t harming any humans, why did this one want to hurt them? Morgan whimpered, unable to say a word as he felt petrified from the metal against his neck.  He dropped his blade, his hands shaking.

“Wait Cas, aren’t you supposed to be watching Crowley?” Sam asked.  Dean’s eyes snapped up, “Yeah, shit where is he?”

“He’s in the car, still bound as you instructed.  You took longer than expected so I only saw it as a precaution to make sure you and Sam weren’t in any danger.” Castiel explained to the brothers, his eyes trained on Morgan.

“They’re not in any danger; we weren’t going to hurt them.” Lucas explained, holding his hands up to show Castiel they meant it.

Sadie’s eyes were wide with fear. “God just let him go, please.”

“Cas, they’re just kids.” Sam said, helping his brother up as they collected their own weapons from the ground.  Cas took another look around, seeing the scared looks on the teen’s faces and lowered the gun; which was good because Dwight was at the same moment formulating a revenge plan to kick the newcomer’s head farther than the ghoul’s had travelled had he hurt Morgan.

Morgan stumbled forward into Lucas and Sadie’s arms, Sadie whispering reassurances to her friend as the three adults stood together.  Dean slid the knife back into his belt, clasping Castiel warmly by the shoulder, “Thanks man, but next time, don’t touch my baby.”

“I have seen you drive it numerous times Dean, I know how to operate it.” Cas said, holding the gun awkwardly, not knowing whether to tuck it in his pocket of keep holding it.

Laura elbowed Dwight, “Isn’t that what you call your car?”  Dwight shushed her and tried to make some sense of who ‘Cas’ was, he had never been mentioned in any of the books.

Dean addressed the teens again, “I hope you see that this really isn’t the place for kids.  One guy with a gun and you’re all down.  Now go home.”

“You’re not going to win this argument, no matter how famous you are.” Sadie said, holding onto Morgan tightly, addressing Cas specifically, “or whatever you threaten us with weirdo.”

“Is that another breakfast grain you haven’t introduced me to yet?” Cas asked the Winchesters who shook their head in annoyance.  The SHH just looked confused.

“Where’d you get this guy?” Lucas asked incredulously.

“You’d never believe us.” Sam shrugged, not giving up any information.

“Okay, well we’re just going to go before you try shooting any more of my friends in the head.” Dwight said, sliding his crossbow over his back with a leather strap hopping over the fence towards the woods.

“It was a precaution child.” Castiel said but Dwight just narrowed his eyes.  Sadie followed with Lucas and Morgan until the only one not walking towards the forest was Laura.

She stood up as tall as she could, looking carefully at the man.  “You know, most people wouldn’t point a gun at a kid, but I’m betting you’re not most people.  Just don’t come near us again, or you’ll be answering to Laura Bancroft.”

Cas looked confused for a moment, “Like Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury?”

Laura was taken aback for a second, “Um, yeah, he’s one of my ancestors so what?”

Cas considered her for a minute.  “You have his passion.”

“How the hell would you know that you creep?”

“He used to pray quite fervently to all of us, I knew him well.” Castiel explained.

Laura didn’t know what to say for a minute, backing away slowly as she heard the others calling for her.  There was something about this man which was just off; not just the fact he’d held a gun to Morgan’s head and proceeded to act like he’d met her ancestor from the 1500s, but just the way he held himself like he was confused why he didn’t have to look down so far at her.  She shook her head, hopping over the fence before saying, “You Winchesters hang out with crazy people, seriously crazy.”

Dean, Cas, and Sam left in the opposite direction back to the car to where Crowley was chained in the backseat.  Dean went on to rip into Castiel about driving his baby when he didn’t even know how to work a toaster.  It was Sam though who saw the flare of headlights in the buses, and a dark car which looked oddly like their own speed off down the path and turn towards the other end of town.  They’d call Garth to ask what he was thinking sending a group of kids on a hunt, but mostly Sam was worried.

—-

Back in their motel the SHH poured over their research, unsure if they should stay the night or just leave.  The joy they should have felt at ridding the town of a ghoul, and Sadie’s spells actually working was stifled by the encounter with the Winchesters.  For heros they sure were jerks, trying to force the SHH out of the exact same thing they were doing as teens- and they didn’t have emotional issues from abusive parents or transient households!  Sadie and Lucas had fussed over Morgan, making sure he hadn’t been even bruised by the barrel of the gun “Cas” pressed to him.  Once they all settled themselves they started pouring over the  _Supernatural_  ebooks for some sign of who that person was, or even why the Winchesters would try to stop them so vehemently.

“I bet he’s one of those hunters who got so far in they start taking on some of the personalities of the ghosts they try to kill.” Lucas suggested as he passed out some of the subpar Chinese food they picked up on their way back.

Laura shook her head, “There was something different about him, like he was a giant looking at an ant.”

“You’ve been watching  _The Avengers_ haven’t you?” Morgan asked, digging into his takeout box of noodles.

Laura glared at him, “I’m serious.”

“Laura could be onto something,” Sadie said.  She’d been searching for key words in the ebooks, stranger or trenchcoat or even Cas. “After all, Carver Edlund disappeared before he could relaunch the series, they were going crazy about it at the last convention.  A whole panel devoted to where he could be and if he’s still working on the next book.”

“Do you think he got mixed up into something too big? I mean if Dean and Sam are real, I don’t think they appreciated some guy spilling all their secrets to the world.”  Morgan suggested, suddenly nervous about what their fate could be if the Winchester’s hadn’t okayed a book series based on their life; what would it mean for people who had actually met the pair and weren’t well received?

“I don’t think it was the Winchesters who made Edlund disappear.” Dwight said from his laptop.  He was hunched over the keyboard typing quickly.  “Laura you said this guy said he knew an Archbishop Richard Bancroft?”

Laura nodded.  “He’s a big deal in my family, a second son in the 1500s who chose the pious life and ended up overseeing the first English translation of the Bible for King James.  There’s a huge portrait of him in the east wing of our country home.”

“You have wings, in a country home?” Sadie was taken aback.  Laura shrugged, “Don’t you?”

Dwight rolled his eyes, typing some more.  “I think it might be a religious connection; it’s unlikely the name came up out of nowhere.  Maybe ‘Cas’ is short for something.”

“Do you think this guy has something to do with Edlund’s disappearance? After all it doesn’t look like there is any sign of this guy in the books, but Dean and Sam seem to trust him enough that he was going to hurt just us and not them.” Sadie said, her search terms yielding nothing from the ebooks.

“I bet it was him who got rid of Edlund.  He had this weird protective vibe over Sam and Dean, and he’s proven he’d at least threaten to kill for them.” Dwight said, keeping his searches concentrated.

Sadie leaned forward onto the table, her head slumped forward.  “I don’t want to run into them again.  If we’re going to keep hunting how are we going to be able to avoid them?”

“It’s a big country Sadie; I bet this was all a fluke.  A really cool fluke because it means they’re real, but still a fluke.” Morgan said, slurping up another noodle not meeting anyone’s eyes.  Lucas leaned into his shoulder sighing in agreement.

“Holy shit!” Dwight exclaimed, jumping up so hard he knocked himself out of his chair sprawling onto the floor.  The rest of the hunters crowded around him, their faces full of shock and worry.  They all asked him what was wrong but Dwight’s only response was to point to the computer screen, open to a browser page with the search words, “Cas_, medieval, religion, Bancroft.”  There in an iron burnt piece was Archbishop Richard Bancroft speaking skywards to a light, only titled as “Cassiel, Angel of Thursday.”

—-

The rattier of the two motels was once again occupied with all four inhabitants.  Dean was already trying to reach Garth and yell at him for his insane encouragement of the self-made hunters.  With Chrissy and here friends they had been dragged into this world kicking and screaming, these kids had a choice and Dean would be damned if he let them make the wrong on.   
“Dammit!” Dean growled, throwing the phone against the bed.  Crowley flinched away from it with a whimper.

Sam reached out to calm his brother, “Dean, its two thirty in the morning, Garth’s probably asleep.”

“He’s going to wish he was asleep when I get through with him.”

Cas shook his head, unable to form a response other than disbelief at Dean’s dramatics.  “They could have eviscerated you if they wanted Dean, they had the upper hand.”

“Clearly you missed the part before where I kicked their ass, and then you nearly blew their brains out.” Dean accused.

“Yes, you are right, but there is power in disbelief and youth, why do you think angels guard children as precious beings, and demons possessing children seems all the more wrong?” Cas reasoned.

Dean didn’t pay attention, still annoyed with Garth for not picking up the phone.  They’d lost precious time and they hadn’t even beat the ghoul.  Granted he did see Sammy kick some ass without fainting, but it was disarming a bunch of teens; didn’t really mean much in the long run.  It was probably better to just get back to the bunker and focus on the real issues, like the gates of hell not being sealed and the entirety of heaven’s garrison getting their wings ripped from their backs.  Weirdly enough it was Crowley who broke him from his thoughts, the conversation continuing without him.

“I knew a girl once, she was a good hunter, nearly trapped me before she was interrupted.  A beautiful soul.  She was only twelve but she almost caught a crossroads demon all to herself…” Crowley was doing that mournful regret thing he’d taken on.  Dean still wasn’t sure if he really meant it, but there was something to be said for the new Crowley, he seemed to tell the truth.

“Why was she after you?” Sam asked, his chin in his hands, listening to Crowley’s story.

Crowley sniffed before falling into another wave of dramatics.  “She’d read about it in a book; oh I should have spared her.”

Cas sighed, “You are a heartless demon, it is not in your nature to spare.”

“I’m as human as you are now.” Crowley blew his nose on a handkerchief from his pocket, his chains not tight enough to stop that motion.

“Yet twice as dangerous.” Cas said from his chair across the room.

Almost on cue the lights started to flicker.  Dean span about his hand on Ruby’s knife immediately, eyes peeled at the ceiling as if something was going to crawl out of it like an oversized rat.  Cas looking mildly ruffled, his mouth open as he glanced skywards. Crowley started whimpering, rocking back and forth with a terrified look in his eyes, “Oh no they’ve come for me.”

“Well they won’t be able to get in; we’ve got this place under lock and key.  You’re our bitch now Crowley no matter what the beasts from below say.” Dean snapped.

Sam interrupted, “Uh Dean?”

“What?” He snapped, looking to where Sam was pointing unsteadily.

Their salt line was nonexistent, and already curls of black smoke were creeping their way under the door.  Crowley’s voice heightened to a whine, his knees tucked up against his chest.  Dean grabbed for his holy water at the same time Cas grabbed Crowley; the angel shielded him from the smoke which was quickly become corporal. Dean and Sam however just soaked the half formed shape, but as it retreated they knew the knife could not work on smoke.

“Son of a bitch.” Dean swore, grabbing their things and wrenching open the door.  “Sam, get Crowley.  Cas, in the car.”

Cas was the one who emerged supporting Crowley instead, “We have a mutual understanding.”

Dean grunted, probably Winchester for ‘so in other words you still remember when you teamed up and tried to suck all of purgatory into your gut?’ There was no actual questioning though as they all piled into the Impala.  No regard was given to seatbelts as they tore out of the parking lot, running over some grass as they set their course for the Men of Letters bunker; and some protection from everyone who was trying to get a bite of the head honcho of demonic affairs.  Cas braced said ‘honcho’ by the shoulder to keep him from rocking himself into a panic.  Dean just stepped on the gas harder.

What stopped them from going farther was the  _dome_ of black smoke quickly encapsulating the town.  It cut right across the road and stretched up towards the sky, filtering the moonlight before cutting it out completely.  Sam hissed, tucking his head back into the car from trying to get a better look.  “We’re trapped.”

“Fuck!” Dean exclaimed, hitting the dashboard and cranking the car around.  “What the hell do we do?”

Cas’ gravelly voice came from the backseat, “You could break through the dome with a correct incantation.”

“Well that’s great Cas,” Dean growled, “But we’re kind of fresh out of pixie dust over here.”

Sam looked excited, optimism inching into his voice.  “But someone else isn’t.”

Dean’s eyes shot to his little brother. “No. No no no, you’re not suggesting we ask that little witch for help are you?”

“They did prove themselves to be capable.” Sam said, his eyes glancing back up to the pitch black dome.

Dean swore again, but turned towards the second motel.  Sam just prayed they were actually there.

—-

“An angel?” Lucas asked.  “A freaking angel?  No that can’t be, I didn’t see a single feather on that guy.  Aren’t they supposed to be grand and important, not look homeless?”

Chinese food forgotten, the teens crowded around the laptop as Dwight pulled up more research.  They were slightly in awe of the preliminary findings, anything more become mind blowing.  Lucas despite his objections still had a wild grin inching up his mouth.

“That’d be insane, though it’d explain how the Winchesters are still alive with all the trouble they get into.  They have a literal guardian angel!” Dwight said, his hands gesturing about.  He still wasn’t over the discovery, bouncing in his chair excitedly.  “I’ve met an angel!”

“Calm down Dwight, it’s just a theory,” Sadie said.  “If he was an angel why didn’t we see wings? Or even some powers? He used a  _gun_.” The last word was stressed as she glanced over at Morgan, who was slowly taking in the possibility he’d had his life threatened by an angel.

“It’s possible once in a vessel angels don’t have access to their heavenly forms, like demons- but because demons don’t generally care about permission the loss of powers could be like a condition on the deal.” Dwight reasoned.

“Vessel?” Laura asked.

Dwight shrugged, “If you’ve ever read the Bible angels don’t look like humans.  Think about those who have encountered angels, like Mary or the shepherds were afraid of what they saw.  A vessel would be a good alternative to that fear if they just wanted to blend in.”

“You spent way too much time at Sunday school.” Lucas remarked.

“As I was saying,” Dwight continued, “Angels are not kind and they’re not merciful if you go by Revelations; so it’s not unlikely if Cassiel saw us as a threat he was not bluffing when he was pointing that gun.”

Morgan bit his tongue, any retort he made now wouldn’t change the fact he’d nearly been shot.  Dwight and he met eyes, the understanding there.  While it was incredible they had encountered an angel, the fact the death threat was real made it all the scarier that Morgan had almost been lost to them.

Laura read over the page, continuing the conversation, “So if this is the angel Cassiel, or Kaziel, or Qafsiel, then he was telling the truth about knowing my ancestor?”

Lucas chuckled.  “One of the perks of being part of the British aristocracy; trace your background so far back you find the angel’s BFFs.”

Laura punched him in the shoulder, laughing as well.  “Shut up.”

“Never.  We’ve just met fictional characters come to life, an angel with a handgun, and kicked a ghoul’s ass, it’s kind of an awesome day.” Lucas said, picking the girl up again as they both laughed.

“I wouldn’t speak too soon.”

Sadie and Morgan pulled up the blinds, the sky cold and black, shadows shifting like lightening.  There was no moonlight, no streetlights, just darkness.  Even the motel sign was starting to flicker.  The teens felt their hearts beat quicker, unsure of how to explain it.

“What’s going on?” Laura asked.

“I don’t know.” Sadie gulped.  A far off screech of tires came closer, the only sound in the empty night.  The rumbling engine grew closer until a Chevy Impala flew into their parking lot, sliding into place right next to Dwight’s own model.

When the knock on their door came it was like anything out of one of Edlund’s novels.  “ _When the devil comes to your doorstep, prepare for what he brings_.” Morgan quoted.

The Winchesters were the last person anyone wanted on their doorstep, but they let them in anyways.

—-

The Winchesters and company came into the room, crossing over the salt line careful not to disturb it.  Already they were safer than if they had been inside their own motel room.  The brothers crossed the line to the centre of the room, Sam looking behind him to make sure Cas supported the demon king and his chains correctly.  The teens didn’t know what they had been expecting, but a ruffled man in a suit and chains was not one of them.

“Who’s this?” Dwight demanded.  He had his crossbow out again as a threat, though the string was empty.  He gestured towards Crowley who was visibly supported by Castiel, his shoulder just low enough for leaning.

Dean and Sam weren’t sure how to answer.  “It could be a long story kid.”

“Don’t call me kid.  We just let you in despite the fact you know it would be safer for us to just slam the door in your face.  Now explain what’s going on.” Dwight said, Laura and Morgan flanking their leader in a show of solidarity.  Morgan in particularly gave a dark look towards Castiel, who didn’t seem at all guilty about his earlier actions.

“He’s right Dean, we should at least explain before we put them in danger.” Sam said looking for a compromise between the two sides.  There wasn’t much room for bending Dean’s strict code of morals unless it came to family, if it was Sam the demons were after it would be a different matter.

“We already know this one’s an angel, Cassiel right?” Lucas said nodding towards Cas.

“Castiel actually,” Cas said, his voice far off.  “Though I am not an angel any longer.” There was a mixture of confusion on the teen’s faces, triumph and awe but also shock and bewilderment.  How could someone un-become an angel? Wouldn’t that mess with the laws of nature or something?  They weren’t given any questions as Dean interrupted.

“How the hell did you guess that?” Dean demanded.

“Google.”

Dean looked like he wanted to smack the look right off Lucas’ impertinent face but he just groaned and slumped his shoulders. “Kids.”

Sadie decided to take pity on Castiel and Crowley, leading the ex-angel to the bed so he could sit his prisoner there.  She caught a look at the pentagrams on the cuffs and lifted one of Crowley’s hands up to look at them further, “Judging by the handiwork I assume these are for everyone’s protection.  There’s some heavy spellwork in these.”

“It’s to keep me from doing bad things.” Crowley explained in that irritatingly ‘nice’ voice of his.

“So this is how you Yanks treat us, thanks a lot.” Laura said sarcastically to the Winchesters, rolling her eyes.

“Considering this is the king of hell, I think you’re a little off.” Dean said.  Laura shut up immediately, looking back to the man on the bed who suddenly became like something toxic to the Serendipity Hill Hunters.

“I knew this wouldn’t end well.” Morgan said taking off his glasses to polish them, the most motion he could muster without freaking out.

“You brought a demon here?” Dwight exclaimed bringing the unloaded crossbow up, “Are you trying to get us all possessed? Or murdered? Or both?”

“I said it would be a long story.” Sam said sadly.  He pointed outside the blinds to the gathered dome of smoke.  “But well we need your help.”

Had this been their introduction to the Winchesters Dwight might have shrieked and fainted from joy.  Now with the brothers threatening his team, disempowering his lifestyle, their angel pointing a gun to Morgan’s head, and their own attitudes rubbing him the wrong way he wasn’t so receptive to their pleas.  He laughed bitterly, “Really? I thought we were a couple kids who knew nothing about hinting?  But somehow you’re running to us for help?  That’s a dick move.”

Dean held up his hands, trying to make peace. “Yeah I know, yeah well its not cool, but there’s some demons on our tail and it’s gonna take some major spell work to bring down the freaking ring of demons around this town.  If everyone wakes up in the morning and sees this they’re going to freak.”

“Please, we know you’re good enough for this.  You were the ones who warded this room right? Well if you still have your power on there’s gotta be something to it right?” Sam said.  The motel sign flickered out just like the streetlights.  Everything was dark except for the motel room, expertly marked and contained.  Sadie blushed momentarily at the praise before Dwight cut in again.

“What happened to no witchcraft?” The brothers at least had the decency to look ashamed.  Dwight shook his head, turning to Sadie, “You want to do this?”

Sadie wasn’t sure.  She looked over at Crowley, still bound in his chains.  “Are you sure they’re not here for you or Sam? He doesn’t look much like a King of Hell, what about Lucifer?”

“The devil’s kind of old news, and as we said it’s a long story.” Sam explained to the looks of baffled astonishment he was receiving.  “I kind of… cured Crowley of being a demon but I don’t think Hell got the message their king is out of the picture now.”

“You can’t cure a demon.” Dwight exclaimed, sure in his answer.

Castiel cleared his throat and pushed Crowley upwards off his seat on the bed. “I believe you hid a Devil’s trap under the mattress.  If he was still a demon he’d be trapped no?”

The five couldn’t help but agree with him, slowly trying to adjust to the idea of the things they were experiencing.  It was a lot to process but they’d dealt with more horrific circumstances, in a way…

“We can have a debate on the facts of Crowley’s life later, right now there’s a crapload of demons looking for Crowley and they won’t leave until we make them.  We need your help to banish these suckers.” Dean addressed Sadie, his knife sheathed.  It wasn’t pleading but she could tell he was earnest about this, just wanting to get out fo here and keep moving.

She’d thought if she’d ever met Dean or Sam Winchester she’d have a great time working with them, maybe even participating in a prank war with her on Sam’s team against Dwight and Dean.  The brothers she saw before her now weren’t the same ones she’d met in Carver Edlund’s writing.  There was something more intense, more broken about them.  She’d gather they’d seen this situation a thousand times but whoever they used to call wasn’t there.  She wondered why they didn’t just ring up Bobby, but maybe that was just an addition by Edlund.  The fact remained they needed the SHH’s help and it wouldn’t be right to turn them down because her expectations were laughing brothers, but what she got were hardened soldiers.

She nodded, “What do you need me to do?”

—-

It was Castiel, Sadie, and Crowley who ended up in the middle of the room; all three with a history of magic and all three with something to prove.  Morgan spouted something about the power of numerology but he went quickly back to the laptop to see if there were alternatives in their personal files to an actual ritual.  They were nervous about it, but at least Castiel took them more seriously than the Winchesters, even if that meant extending his threats towards them in the cemetery.

For Cas banishing the demons would show he wasn’t useless to the Winchesters, if human he was then he was still as powerful as this young woman.  Humanity had power in it and he was going to use that to his advantage.

For Crowley he knew it was his fault the demons were even pursuing them and if he could help put them at bay long enough to allow Sam safe passage wherever he needed to go he would take it.  It was a desperate attempt at begging attention, but there would be thanks at the end of it- wouldn’t there?

Sadie’s determination was obvious from the motivation she was given.  Prove yourself, prove your magic, and prove that you’re good enough.  She was representing the whole of the hunters by doing this and she was not going to fail her friends.

“So are we still going to live in this happy little universe where you don’t feel guilty if you get us killed because you don’t know our names?” Laura asked the Winchesters, her feet dangling off the counter of the kitchenette.  The others in her team agreed, fixing the Winchesters with accusational stares.

Dean held up his hands in surrender. “Didn’t see where introductions fit into all of this since you knew us anyways.”

Dwight snorted loudly, cynical enough of their observed tactics.  “I already told you my name, as well as our team’s name but I think you probably just dismissed it as ‘kids playing hunters’.  I’m Dwight Houston, as I mentioned.”

“I’m Morgan.”

“Laura Bancroft.” Cas already knew this one.

“I’m Luke, and Sadie’s our witch.” Lucas said proudly.

Sadie rolled her eyes. “Funny, you used to tease me about that.”

“Well now it’s awesome cause we know your wards actually work.” Lucas insisted.  Sadie shook her head and turned to Castiel, “So what kind of spell is this?”

Castiel had removed his trenchcoat, sitting cross-legged on the floor like he was in a kindergarten classroom.  He had taken a piece of chalk which had been left on the table and was sketching a ring of symbols.  “We’ll need you to say the words, but it will take effort.  A banishment sigil this large will require a lot of power.  I do not know the strengthening charm which is what Crowley will provide us with.  Together we should be able to buy three hours, enough to get out of the town and go our separate ways.”

“So it’s just words.” Sadie asked sitting down a third of the way around the circle.

“Words for banishment, a sigil for grounding, but the strengthening will take more.” Castiel amended.

Crowley wrung his hands, the chains looser but still clasped tight around his wrists.  “I don’t know if this will work.  What if we don’t have the right ingredients?”

“Thanks for jinxing it.” Dean said, hitting the demon king upside the head.  “Just tell the chick what she needs to know.”

Castiel filled in the lines of his circle, adding a dash here or an extra loop to the swirling design in the centre of the three people.  It was white against grey but they could see a pattern emerging.  The space in the middle was where Crowley pointed.  “There is where you add the mixture; any strength of a spell is drawn from the centre of a circle.  We need to burn blood, hair, and tears together, it’s archaic but it’s the only combination I know we might have everything for.  It’s all human I swear.”

Lucas swore.  “Human blood? Are you sure this is a good idea Sadie? Can’t we just do the ritual without the strengthening part?”

Castiel fixed his eyes on Lucas.  The gaze was unsettlingly all-knowing; it was like he was being searched with a look.  Lucas turned his head but Castiel still spoke to him.  “If she does not strengthen the spell then all effectiveness will only last a couple minutes.  Whatever qualms you have about human blood must be left behind if this is to work.”

“It’s fine.  Just do it.” Dwight said from his corner.  Sadie looked at him uncertainly, questioning if he was really alright with it.  The memories of a blood soaked knife were enough for one lifetime, even if it was her hand which was to bleed this time.

“It’s not just any ingredients,” Crowley said, “It’s specifically virgin blood, king’s hair, and the tears of an orphan.”

The Winchesters chose not to comment when Lucas muttered, “Dammit, I wanted to help.”  Morgan just slapped his forehead at Lucas’s words and muttered something about over sharing.

“Well that seems a little more specific, but doable.” Sadie said. She got Laura to bring her a bowl that she set in the middle of Castiel’s sigil ring, careful not to touch the borders of the chalk work.  She batted off Morgan’s insistence he do the blood work, whispering she needed someone to stay sane in this whole situation.

With a small knife and a wince she cut a thin line along her palm, squeezing the blood into the bowl.  Crowley reached out over the circle to bandage her hand with his handkerchief when it was enough.  She breathed out slowly, her eyes watering at the pain but it was bearable.

“You’re quite brave.” Crowley mentioned, “I commend you young lady.” She’d have smiled back if it wasn’t strange to hear it coming from a man in chains.

Thunder cracked, a white line striking the concrete outside their window.  Everyone jumped, Dwight’s holy water sprayer up within a second like everyone else’s weaponry.  Laura snorted, her own stance unchanged on the counter.  She would have said something about overreaction but the knocking on the window stopped her short.

“They’ve found us.” Sam peered out the window to the black eyes he was far too familiar with.  The SHH felt their throats close up.  Lucas’ eyes were wide and he placed a hand on Sadie’s shoulder to steady both her and himself.

“They can’t get it.  I’ve made sure the wards will hold.” Sadie didn’t sound too sure as she said it.

“Never mind that, we need to finish this.” Castiel urged her.  Laura got off her seat and took the knife from Sadie, cutting off a hank of her own hair and tossing it into the bowl as well before anyone could protest.

“Why’d you do that?” Dean asked, certain she’d ruined the spell.

“Because I’m fifth cousins with the queen of England, so unless you’re hiding a Swedish princess in your family tree I’m the closest thing you’ve got to king’s blood.  So shut up.”  She declared, nerves letting her lash out without recourse.  Her hands were shaking from the glimpse outside the window.  She knew she was imagining the sounds of spiders running up the walls but everyone was on edge.  Laura was new to this and ghouls were so much like zombies it was like her brother walking her through a street fight; spells and demons were a whole other ballgame.

“It’s not going to work.” Crowley moaned into his hands.  Dean hit him again to quiet his worrying.

Sadie tried to smile, “So which one of you boys is going to offer up some tears? You’re the only ones with enough manpain to do the tears.”

The realization they were the only orphans in the room would have been quite depressing if it wasn’t coupled with Sadie’s smile telling them she needed their tears.

Dean shook his head, “Hell no chick, I’m not- EE!”

He sank to his knees in an instant, tears streaming down his face as he held his crotch in agony.  Sam looked a little sheepish, “We needed to hurry it up so…”

The tension in the room grew a little more relaxed as they laughed, Sadie catching the tears in the bowl to set back in the middle of the circle.  There was a hiss when she let it sit on the ground, Crowley’s nods told her it was normal that the blood began to boil and melt the hair with a large plume of smoke.  The gasps around the room were not distracting, but the knocks at the door told her it was time to hurry.

“The strengthening spell is in place, now you need to focus and repeat after me.” Castiel ordered, getting Sadie’s attention away from whatever was happening outdoors.”

“Right.” She called back, the volume level rising as a storm started outside the window, tree branches flying and lighting striking the motel.  The power held though, the protections in place and firmly held.

“Keep the door closed!” Dwight exclaimed as what looked like wind started to rattle the doorframe.  The smoke began to seep under the door and fill up the allowable space for the inward sweeping door the salt line provided.

Sam leapt for the doorframe at the same time as Morgan but it slammed open with a tornado like blast, the swirling air blowing at the salt and shifting them so far the cackle started at the same moment they broke.  Morgan and Sam struggled to close the door but even as they thrust it shut against the wind and lightning the smoke had already entered and become corporal.

“Hello Crowley, found yourself a harem of jailbait and ingrates have you?” No one recognized the shape this demon had taken; a tall woman with the stance of a man who had something to prove.  It didn’t matter what they looked like as the black eyes were signs enough of the species of the intruder.  “I like the wards, they’re a nice touch.”

Castiel grabbed Sadie’s face.  “ _Nonci adrpan dazi de adphant doalim.”_

She was scared but she said the words anyways, “ _Nonci adrpan dazi de adphant doalim.”_

The demon jumped, shocked out of place as Sadie repeated the words, the power of a true human enough to knock it back a few paces.  It growled.  “Crowley that’s not playing nicely, got yourself a pet witch? Well then-”

“Shut up!” Lucas yelled at the demon, swinging his blade directly at its neck.  It caught the blade and tutted, yanking Lucas close and grinning.  “Oh that’s not very polite.”

Sadie tried to turn but Cas held her face, “Ignore them!”  He covered her eyes with his other hand, “ _Nonci zizop iaidon zorge, zir oadriax.”_ Sadie repeated the words which caused a brief break in the swirling of the wind.

The demon frowned at the decrease of it’s power, tossing Lucas down and spinning to throw Dean against the wall.  He had tried to sneak up behind it but it was still too strong. Ruby’s knife clattered uselessly to the ground as Dean hit the wallpaper.  Sam cried out in anger but was stopped when he saw Dwight throw himself into action with a crossbow bolt leading the way.

Sadie grasped Castiel’s hands and tried to ignore the sounds behind her making her sick.  She caught her breath and made sure the words were exactly as he said.  She repeated word for word.  “ _Zir ialpvrg noco de teloah, comselh cnila noar l poamal.”_

Crowley tried not to gasp at the circle which was glowing now, the symbols taking on a bright white glow.  He kept his head down in his chains as the hunters did their best to knock the demon back.

“ _Nonci pir dodrmni doalim-”_ Castiel yelled as the fighting grew louder- thunder struggled to stay alive and crack.

“ _Nonci pir dodrmni doalim,”_ Sadie choked out.  The wind was dying but the storm was coming down to the ground as the dome crumbled with their words.  The black smoke crowded up against the door and swirled around the demon.  The magic was strong and she could feel it working, but the power was thrumming all around them and it was hard to concentrate on what she was saying when the world was spinning.

“Keep going!  Don’t stop!” Dwight yelled, caught off guard and slammed into the wall as he tried to reload.  Morgan grabbed Castiel’s gun and fired at the demon, but he missed and shattered the windowpane, letting more smoke in around the shifted salt lines.

“ _Iolci const, restil!”_ She could hardly hear Castiel’s words but she repeated it.

“ _Iolci… const…”_ She gasped for breath as the spell flowed through her hands and into the circle.

“Say it!” Laura screamed, turning to say it as Morgan fired again.

“ _Restil_!”

Sadie’s words were instantaneous as she slumped against Castiel’s arms, the circle becoming blinding with the added power of the strengthening spell.  Crowley whined into his hands, hiding his eyes as the lightning flashed and thunder rolled.  Morgan’s bullet never made it’s destination as it passed through the demon, bursting into smoke along with it’s friends and was sucked out of the room with the dome of black shadows.  The door slammed shut and the circle faded to the sounds of the night.

When the wind was gone the hunters sat up, hearing nothing except crickets and the birds of early dawn.  Castiel held Sadie in his arms, looking over to Crowley and then to Dwight.  There was silence for the most part in the room, but when he met Dwight’s eyes the young hunter just nodded and smiled.  They had done it.

—-

There wasn’t much room for congratulations on deflecting a horde of demons.  Instead the farewells were gruff and short, not all even awake for them.  The spell had only bought them three hours, because while they only faced one corporal demon the entire dome had been made of their corrupted souls.  Castiel couldn’t stress it enough that the banishing spell was one they had to remember if the demons came after them.  Dean and Sadie were knocked out to hear this, but Sam tried to swallow the truth that the teens would have a target painted on their backs now; the exact opposite of what Dean had wanted.  They had aided and abetted the escape of the King of Hell; nothing would be safe for them anymore.

Morgan pulled Lucas into his car, giving him the last of the ice from the machine to place on his bruises; he told Sam he’d be in contact with Garth to let him know what had happened.  Sam offered his own cell number which was slipped into Morgan’s pocket quicker than he wrote it down.

Sadie was laid in the backseat of Dwight’s car as the young hunter said his final words to Sam.  Sam just accepted the gruff words hiding a terrified young man and told him he was a hero.  Dwight had to be lain beside Sadie while Laura drove, hoping her friends would wake up before they hit a toll route.

The three cars parted ways to the north, south, and west.  All they could really hope for at this point was the spell worked enough and their protections kept them safe.  But it was more than just a single victory for the SHH; they’d learnt the spells were right and they could handle what the world threw at them.  For Sam he saw that there were people willing to do the right thing- not because they had to, but because they wanted to.  It was a bit of a shock to all the horrors he had seen in his life, but it was comforting as well.

The only thing they could really say about this meeting was that the Winchesters had been saved by a little bit of serendipity.


End file.
